Coiled tubing drilling requires the use of a downhole positive displacement motor (PDM) to rotate the drill bit. During drilling operations, the unloaded PDM rotates at a constant RPM and achieves a “freespin” motor pressure, with respect to the fluid flow rate. As the drill bit encounters the bottom of the hole and force is transferred to the bit, referred to as weight-on-bit (WOB), the motor will sense an increase in torque. The increase in torque is a result of increased resistance to rotating at the constant RPM (assuming a constant flow rate). In turn, the PDM requires additional pressure to turn the motor at the constant RPM while under increased resistance. If the resistance increases to a condition which prohibits the PDM from rotating (i.e. excessive WOB), a motor stall is encountered. During a motor stall, the motor stops turning, the downhole fluid path is severely restricted, and the surface pump pressure dramatically increases. This event can eventually cause a motor failure, which requires the drilling process to be stopped, and the coiled tubing to be fatigue-cycled as the bit is pulled off bottom and run back into the hole to start drilling again.
A downhole tool that monitors motor pressure and sharply reduces the occurrence of motor stalls will increase overall drilling efficiency by:
(1) Increasing the average rate of penetration. This is achieved by reducing the occurrences of pulling off-bottom every time the motor stalls.
(2) Decreasing the damage to PDMs through repeated motor stalls, thereby decreasing occurrence of downhole failure.
(3) Decreasing the fatigue cycles on the coiled tubing. This increases the number of wells a coiled tubing string can service.
By achieving a more efficient drilling operation, the operators can substantially increase the cost savings of drilling a well.
The present invention provides an anti-stall tool that controls WOB during drilling operations, resulting in improved overall drilling efficiency.